Wednesday, November 11, 2009

South Carolina Book Award Club

Each year our media specialist, Mrs. Kelley, puts together a book club for third, fourth, and fifth graders (and any teacher who wants to join), based on the South Carolina Book Award Nominees for the year.

The expectation for members is that you read at least six of the twenty-one titles within a six week period (a book a week!). As she says...the club is not for wimps :)

While everyone had a good time and read a lot of books the above picture shows the ten students left standing at the end. We gave them a round of applause (as well as a pizza party and auction) for setting and reaching their reading goal in the club.

The South Carolina Book Award Nominees for 2009 are... (click on the comments to read some of the student/teacher reviews).

Attack of the Turtle by Drew Carlson

The Aurora County All-Stars by Deborah Wiles

Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It by Sundee Tucker Frazier

7 comments:

Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It - I liked it because the boy was interested in science and finding out the answers to questions he had (including why he had never met his Grandpa). I am a science teacher so it was nice to see some science stuff about rock collecting :)

No Talking - As a teacher I would LOVE to have three days of no talking but I don't know if my students would be as creative as the ones in the book were!

Me and the Pumpkin Queen - I am fascinated by those huge fruits and vegetables they have at fairs and I thought they were easy to grow. This book shows me how wrong I was!

My favorite book was Emma Jean Lazarus fell out of a tree because it was funny. It was about a girl named Emma Jean and she likes fixing problems and one day she tries to fix a problem and it does not turn out as she planned. If you want the rest of the story you will have to read it.Caroline

Me and the pumpkin queen- Me and the pumpkin queen is my favorite book club book because of the ending.It is about a little girl that is inspired by growing giant pumpkins.When an old man tells her about it she is up for the ride of her life. aydan

This year I set myself the goal of reading all 20 of the SC Book Award titles. I managed to read them all a whole lot easier than to pick just one as my winner. I can review my top 3 picks:1. The Aurora County All StarsThis book is not just about baseball - it is about life and growing up, particularly in a small country town and how the children in the town manage to not only put on the founder's day show, but also play their most important ball game of the year against their rivals - very exciting game at the end of the story!2. Leepike RidgeThis story has all the action,adventure, and mystery any kid (or adult) could wish for. Falling down a waterfall into secret caverns to find the truth about his father and long lost treasure the main character in this story has one amazing journey!Read it start to finish in one sitting!3. The Mysterious Benedict SocietyThis book is enormous! It's well worth the read though, as it is so cleverly written and keeps you guessing about these 4 amazing kids who are brought together for their even more amazing talents to help save the world! Fascinating, with a super surprise at the end - can't wait to read the next one... Mrs. Booth

Eleven, by Patricia Giff, was my favorite because I remember having fun, many years ago, wondering what my life would have been like if my family had not been my real one. It wasn't such fun for Sam. His friend Caroline was my favorite character of all the ones I met while reading book club titles. M.Kelley, Librarian